The Antidote
by Tavyn
Summary: When Danny falls dangerously ill due to his ghost half, it's up to his friends to save him. Meanwhile, trapped in a deep sleep, Danny fights for his life - and for a certain goth girl, when she is sucked into his nightmares... DXS
1. Chapter 1

**Summary: **When Danny falls dangerously ill due to his ghost half, it's up to his friends to save him. Meanwhile, trapped in a deep sleep, Danny fights for his life - and for a certain Goth girl, when she is sucked into his nightmares...

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Danny Phantom or any of the characters or catch phrases mentioned. This is a work of fiction, purely for my own and hopefully your enjoyment! It takes place late in season three, before PP, and I really tried to keep it as true to the show as possible. Because of that, the first chapter is a lot of setup...but, the entire plot is basically an excuse for DXS fluff so if you enjoy that, it's coming. Enjoy!

* * *

"Oh great," Danny groaned, his ghost sense sending a shiver down his spine. The glowing clock next to his bed read 3:06AM. "I've only been in bed for half an hour since the LAST ghost," he complained, punching his pillow. The spectral spirits haunting Amity Park had seemed particularly restless lately - Danny had barely gotten any sleep for the past week, as the town had been under nearly constant attack. As it was, Danny had already captured 5 other ghosts that evening alone.

"Well," he sighed, "guess I can sleep when I'm dead!" With that he leapt out of bed, changing into his ghost form before his feet could even touch the floor and soaring into the night.

"Alright ghost, someone's got to pay for another sleepless night, so where are you..." He floated around the empty city streets, itching for a fight. Turning a corner, he found just what he was looking for - in the form of a giant glowing green scorpion, screeching into the night as it stomped on cars and toppled streetlights.

"Hey ugly!" He cried, catching the ghost's attention. "Sorry to interrupt your night, but since you interrupted mine..." He grinned as the unwitting arthropod scuttled towards him. "The exterminator has arrived!"

Ready to vent all his frustrations, Danny sent blast after blast at the monster, surprised when they simply bounced off its hardened shell. "Huh," he reconsidered, dodging the enormous stinger, "this is going to take some special moves." Swooping around the spectral scorpion, he aimed a freeze shot at its giant underbelly. Now frozen in its tracks, Danny blasted the over-sized bug into a thousand pieces, raining ecto-plasmic goo on the unfortunate street.

"Ker-splat," he chuckled to himself, "good thing my job isn't clean up!"

He took a good look at his surroundings for the first time. "Hey, Sam's house isn't far from here. Not strictly on the way home, but since I'm in the neighborhood..." he trailed off, floating towards his best friend's house, telling himself he'd just take a peek to make sure everything was normal, and then he'd go home.

This had become his nightly ritual lately - beat up the ghosts, check on Sam. It wasn't like he thought she'd be in any danger or anything, he just liked seeing her safe in bed before heading off to sleep himself. He didn't know how to explain why, but it put him at ease and relaxed him like nothing else could.

Phasing into her room, he sat quiet and invisible at the window seat. "_I wonder if she ever watches for me from here_," he thought idly, looking out the window into the night sky - then blushed an invisible cherry red. Why would she?

Sighing, he floated over her bed. Sam did a lot of scowling while she was awake, but asleep her face was calm and peaceful. She'd traded her heavy goth makeup for a lighter, purple-y look awhile ago, but he still liked her best like this - wearing no make up at all. He noticed just how pretty her features were in the moonlight...if only he could see her amethyst eyes...

And then they opened.

"Danny?" she mumbled, blearily gazing around the room with sleep-laden eyes.

"Shoot! If she catches me she'll kill me!" Danny stayed completely still, praying Sam wouldn't notice the invisible boy floating over her. Slowly, her eyes fluttered shut again, and she rolled over in sleep. "Mmph...Danny..." She mumbled again.

"_Is she dreaming about me?_" He wondered, startled and blushing. "_Oh well, better get out of here before she wakes up again..._"

Finally back in his bed, Danny moaned as he looked at the clock. "Oh man, it's 4:01?! So much for 'sleep when you're dead'...if Mom and Dad find out I'm not getting enough sleep to bring my grades up, I really WILL be dead..."

* * *

"Hey, Danny, doin' okay there?" Sam prodded him as he dozed off into his locker the next morning.

"Ugh, yeah, just another long night fighting ghosts, you know, the usual." He sighed, straightening up and stretching.

"I know what'll wake you up," Tucker nudged him in the ribs with a sly grin, "Paulina at 12 o'clock."

Sam snorted and rolled her eyes while Danny glanced up half-heartedly. Truthfully, he hadn't crushed on Paulina since he'd dated her - well, since he'd dated Kitty in Paulina's body. Even possessed by a ghost, she was pretty boring, and really annoying. But it was easier to pretend he still liked her. That way, he could minimize the teasing about his relationship with a certain goth girl.

"Let's just go to class you guys," Danny grumbled. "It's going to be a rough day." No sooner said than his ghost sense went off yet again. "Scratch that," he groaned, running to the janitor's closet so he could go ghost in secret. "Apparently it already is."

* * *

One missed class, two tardies, and three detentions later, Danny collapsed into his regular seat in the cafeteria for lunch.

"Oh man, I feel like I've been spending more time as ghost than human this week," he said, picking at his fries.

"Hey, on the bright side, at least you're getting plenty of practice!" Tucker joked, trying to cheer his friend up. "But I have to ask, have you ever thought about maybe ignoring your ghost sense every once in awhile?"

"Yeah Danny," Sam agreed. "Like a 'pick your battles' kinda thing. You need to save your strength so you're not exhausted when something really serious comes out of the ghost zone." They looked nervous, like they'd planned this conversation ahead of time.

"You guys don't get it, do you?" Danny sighed. "I CAN'T ignore it. I'm the only one with the power to tell when ghosts are around, AND I'm the only one with the power to stop them. Ignoring it would be like ignoring a scream for help. Someone has to protect this town." Tucker and Sam exchanged an exasperated look. Apparently that was the answer they'd been afraid of.

"Okay hot shot," Sam smirked, "but your hero complex is going to get you in trouble someday." She poked him with her spork for emphasis.

"In case you hadn't noticed, it kind of already has," Danny groaned.

"We noticed." Sam and Tucker sighed in unison.

Danny smiled, then frowned as a wave of nausea washed over him. "I don't feel so great," he admitted. "Maybe I'll go to the nurse and take a nap...it's not like my math grade could get much worse anyway."

His friends frowned in concern as he stood up to leave.

"Hey, at least it's Friday man," Tucker reminded him.

"Yeah, we still on for movies at my place tonight?" Sam asked.

"Duh." Danny answered, just as his ghost sense went off. "Again?! You've GOT to be kidding me. So much for the nurse. See ya later guys, I've got some butt to kick."

* * *

When Danny finally collapsed on Sam's couch that night, he was ready to give in to his exhaustion. "Stupid Box Ghost," he yawned. "Maybe I could just...close my eyes...for a minute..." Resting his head on Sam's very comfortable shoulder, his eyes drooped shut.

"Uh, Danny?" Asked a slightly embarrassed Sam.

"Mmmhmmm?" He mumbled.

"You're falling asleep...and uh..." she stuttered. Tucker snickered at the blush creeping on her cheeks as Danny cuddled a little closer, oblivious to the conversation around him.

"If you want him to move, you know you could make him," Tucker pointed out. "Or, you could let him sleep. He looks pr-etty comfortable." Sam smiled and shifted her blanket to cover Danny as well.

Tucker grinned and snapped a quiet picture with his PDA. "_Could those two GET any cuter? I might throw up_," he mentally gagged, but was spared the urge to vomit when Danny's ghost sense went off.

"Agh!" Sam shivered. "Ghost breath, literally down my back." Danny raised his head off her shoulder as he was startled awake. "Huh?" he mumbled, and found his face mere inches from hers. Well, not even inches - their noses were practically touching.

"Oh, uh," he jumped back, blushing and hand rubbing the back of his neck. "Sorry Sam, guess movie night will have to wait..."

"At least you have us to help you this time!" Tucker said as they all jumped to their feet.

"That's good," Danny yawned, "because with how tired I am, I'm gonna need it!"

* * *

The teens found themselves wandering Amity Park in search of the ghost, Tucker glued to his PDA and an exhausted Danny barely floating along.

"According to the new Fenton Finder 3000, there's a spectral interference near...Fenton Works." Tucker reported.

"Fenton Works?" Danny exclaimed. "Aw man, just my luck. Hopefully Mom and Dad aren't around."

The trio approached Danny's street wearily, Tucker tracking their progress on his PDA. "Getting closer..." he commented, oblivious to the giant spectral scorpion rearing its ugly head around the corner.

"Ah Tuck," Danny nudged him. "HOW close did you say we were?"

"According to my calculations, the ghost should be..." A shove from Sam forced Tucker to finally look up from his technology. "Right...in front of us." He sighed. "Uh, ew."

"It's more of an 'ick.'" Danny grimaced. "Remember me? How many times do I have to take care of you, ugly?" He flew up to face the enormous arachnid, dodging its giant pincers and aiming his ghost ray at its underbelly as he went.

"I'm surprised our C-student realized its exoskeleton would be too tough to penetrate," Sam joked, hands on her hips.

"Ha, well, practice makes perfect!" Danny cried, swooping and diving, desperate to find an opening.

Out of nowhere, a certain red-headed ghost hunter sprung onto the scene. "I'll save you, Danny!" she cried, aiming her Fenton Wrist Ray at the ghostly arthropod.

"Jazz, wait!" Danny, Sam, and Tucker cried in unison - but it was too late. The blast ricocheted off the scorpion's protective armor, hitting Danny square in the face.

"Whoops," Jazz grimaced as the scorpion scuttled towards the stunned ghost boy. "No, Danny!" she cried - Danny was paralyzed in mid-air, face covered in goo and unaware of the giant stinger closing in.

"Shoot at its belly, Jazz!" Sam shouted.

"Oh, duh!"Jazz agreed, blasting the bug from underneath as Tucker aimed the Fenton Thermos to suck it in.

"Ha ha, alright! Another successful capture for Team Phantom!" Jazz cheered as the giant scorpion disappeared.

"Wait," Sam paused, the smile vanishing from her face as she noticed Danny writhing in pain on the ground. "Danny!"

Jazz and Tucker gasped, following as Sam ran to Danny's side. Two bands of light surrounded him before they could reach him; but something in his transformation was wrong.

"Danny," Sam whispered, kneeling beside him and placing the ghost boy's head gingerly in her lap. While his body seemed to have returned to its human form, his hair was still a ghostly white, his eyes glowing green. Then he blinked, and Sam gasped as they changed to his normal baby blue. Blink. Glowing green. Blink. Blue. "Uh oh..."

"Woah," Tucker agreed, joining her on the ground. "Dude, it's like you're half-ghost, half-human!" he cried. "At the same time, I mean," he amended at the exasperated looks of Sam and Jazz.

Meanwhile, all Danny could register was the burning pain emanating from the giant sting in the center of his chest. He clutched and scratched at it, trying desperately to make it end.

"Oh no you don't," Sam stopped him, grabbing his hand and holding it to her chest. "You don't want that to get infected," she muttered, voice full of concern. The sudden movement seemed to bring Danny back to the present.

"Hey, Sammy," he whispered, flashing his trademark lopsided grin as her hovering face swam into view.

"Daniel Fenton, you are so lucky you're hurt or I'd have to kick your butt for calling me that," she chided softly.

He chuckled, then grimaced as ripples of pain washed over him. "Sorry," he gasped, "you're just...so darn...cute...when you're worried..." He trailed off, no longer aware of what he was saying. All he could register was the unbearable pain searing from his chest. He felt dizzy and light headed, and his vision began to blur out of focus.

"Keep him still, I'll get the RV! We've gotta get him out of here!" He heard Jazz's voice as if through a long tunnel. As he finally gave into unconsciousness, the last things he was aware of were a small hand covering his, and a pair of beautiful, violet eyes...

* * *

**Note: **Thanks for reading! I wrote this entirely on a note on my phone, so I apologize for any formatting errors I may have missed. The next two chapters are already written, so if you like it so far let me know and I'll get them posted.


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: **Don't own Danny Phantom! Also, all flashbacks are purely fictional - I don't know how Danny and Sam actually met, but this is my take on it.

**Note: **I decided to post this chapter at the same time as the first, because I hate waiting. So I hope you like it!

* * *

Sam was dreaming.

She knew she must be, because it was the same dream she'd been having over and over for the past week. But it was so nice, and she was so tired...she let it pull her in, forgetting all else.

"Samantha, now don't be late for your first day at your new school!" Her father cooed as she slunk around the kitchen, taking her time with breakfast. 7th grade. The year they'd moved to Amity Park.

She sighed. "Of course not, Dad. I do have oh SO much to look forward to today, after all." She rolled her eyes. Being the new girl was going to suck.

She briefly caught a glance of herself in the mirror, barely recognizing the 12-year-old girl she'd once been. Then in a flash of hazy memories, she thought back to when was 10, even more drastically different still. The little girl who wore her mother's dresses. The little girl everyone teased, until they found out she was rich. Back then she was just the little girl everyone wanted to use for her money - she'd never had a real friend a day in her life. Finally sick of all the sucking up, she'd cut all her hair off herself, crudely, with a pair of kitchen scissors. She'd put on heavy makeup and all black, in an attempt to get the other kids to finally leave her alone. And it worked. They were scared of her.

She snapped back to the moment. Really it was good that they'd moved; she knew her parents only did it for her. They were giving her a chance to start over, and she knew she should be grateful. But, years of teasing and trying to win her over for money had made her more than a little jaded towards her peer group, and she couldn't see that anyone at this school would be much better. She'd just have to do a better job of hiding her family's wealth, and at hiding herself.

Suddenly she was in school, standing at the front of a room full of strangers. "Everyone, this is Samantha. She has transferred here from Plainsview South. Please give her a warm welcome," the teacher requested. She blushed as she made her way to the only empty desk. From the startled and strange looks she was getting, she could tell everyone would steer clear of her. Well, except for one boy with dark hair and blue eyes. He smiled at her. She tried to smile back, but felt a grimace form instead.

The day passed in a blur of new faces and loneliness, until last period finally arrived. A whole day of hell, almost over. Almost over, almost over, she repeated in her head. Just science class. I'll be fine, I'll be fine.

"Welcome, Samantha," the teacher addressed her as all the other teachers had. "You're just in time to join the class; we're assigning new lab partners today. Please sit at table 6 with Danny." Sam turned to see the blue-eyed boy from first hour smiling and waving at her. Heart lifting somewhat, she joined him at his table.

"Hi, I'm Danny," he said when she sat down. "Samantha right?"

"Actually, I prefer 'Sam.'" She smiled. It was the first time she'd talked to anyone all day.

"Okay, Sam." He grinned. "I'm REALLY terrible at science, just so you know ahead of time." She laughed. "No problem, I'm pretty good and we definitely already did this lab at my old school so I know all the answers," she replied, looking down at their first assignment.

"Score!" Danny smiled. "This is the first time I've gotten lucky with lab partners in forever." Sam blinked. Lucky? For being paired with her? Maybe this school wouldn't be so bad after all.

Lunch, three days later. Sam had spent her first days of lunch in the library, but knew she'd have to face the cafeteria eventually. She sighed at the sad little salad on her plate, the lettuce as wilted as she felt.

"Hey Sam!" A familiar voice called to her from a table to her right. Her head spun in surprise - it was Danny, her lab partner. She walked over slowly, afraid he'd actually been calling to someone else. "Get over here," he laughed, hand motioning her closer. She looked around to check, but he was definitely talking to her. "I didn't know you were in this lunch!" he said.

"Uh..." How to explain hiding in the library...but he didn't wait for a response.

"Want to sit with us?" He gestured to the empty seat across from him, next to a geeky looking guy really into his meatloaf.

"Uh, sure," she smiled, sitting down. It was such a simple thing, having a place to sit. Such a simple thing, and yet her heart felt so full.

"Hi, I'm Tucker!" The boy next to her introduced himself through bites of loaf.

"Nice to meet you, I'm Sam," she replied.

"Yeah I know! You're Danny's cool new lab partner, he told me." Cool? Her? She glanced at Danny - he was blushing a little, but smiling.

"Hey, we're going to the mall after school if you wanna come," Danny offered.

Over the next several years, Sam's hair grew back. She stopped wearing such heavy makeup, but decided to keep her goth outfits. Not to scare anyone away, but to proclaim her individuality. She'd grown confident in herself and her friends. She didn't need to push people away anymore; in fact, after meeting Danny, she'd never felt lonely again...

"Mmph, Danny..." she muttered, eyes fluttering open. She was looking at...a hand. She snapped back to reality, her head jolting up off the bed next to Danny's hand.

"Oh no, I fell asleep!" She cried. She'd been sitting up next to Danny all night, helping Tucker and Jazz care for his sting.

"Relax," Tucker came up from behind her, putting a hand on her shoulder. "You've only been asleep for an hour. Jazz is passed out too; nothing has changed."

"Nothing?" She prodded.

"Nothing," Tucker repeated with a sigh. "He's not any worse...but he's not any better either." They both turned to Danny in concern. His hair was still shockingly white, and his face was twisted in pain as he slept.

"When Jazz gets up, I think we should wake him. He can't stay here like this, if his parents see him he's toast," Tucker said, as if he needed to tell her.

"I _said_ he could come to my place!" She reminded him.

"And I said that would be a good idea, except that all the ghost first aid stuff is HERE," Tucker countered.

"Stop fighting you guys," said a sleepy Jazz, getting up from the chair she'd been snoozing in. "We're all concerned about Danny. Let's just make a plan, and not worry about what's already happened," she suggested, trying to diffuse the tension.

"We need to wake Danny up," Tucker repeated. The girls agreed with silent nods; it'd been hard enough to get him HERE while he was passed out.

Tucker put his hand on Danny's shoulder, gently shaking him. "Danny...Danny, come on man, wake up." Nothing. "Um," Tucker faltered, then began shaking his ghostly friend a little harder. "Danny, man, this is going to be super hard to explain to your parents, you NEED to wake up!" As his voice began to rise, the girls shushed him.

"Yeah exactly, and the last thing we need is to get their attention," Jazz chided. "Why isn't he waking up?" The trio stared down at the ghost boy, still sound asleep. He hadn't responded at all, which was very disconcerting.

"What's plan B?" Sam asked.

"We obviously need someone with a little more ghostly expertise to help us with this," Jazz suggested. "We don't know anything about ghost stings or ghost venom," she sighed. "Can you guys think of anyone?" Tucker and Sam looked at each other, hope alighting in both their faces as the same idea struck them at the same time.

"Frostbite," they replied simultaneously. "We need Frostbite."

* * *

"Alright, we've just got to get Danny down to the lab and into the Specter Speeder," Tucker repeated, needing to steel his resolve. The girls nodded, and they lifted Danny off the bed.

Tucker had crammed a hat to cover Danny's white hair, but his unconscious body would still give his parents quite a scare if they were discovered, so they moved as quietly as they could while carrying Danny's heavy form.

"Ugh, Danny should lay off the snacks," Jazz complained. She was carrying Danny from the left side, Tucker from the right, and Sam had his legs.

"I really think it's more muscle than anything," the goth girl commented.

"Shh!" Tucker quieted the girls, "we've gotta get through the living room without the Fentons seeing us..."

They rounded the staircase into the living room just as Jack exited the kitchen, moving their way.

"Oh hey kids!" he called, as Jazz, Sam, and Tucker all cringed in unison. "Say, whatcha doin' there with Danny?" He asked, an eyebrow raised in confusion.

"Uh, you know," Sam started, eyes shifting around as she grasped for an explanation. "Just...playing...light as a feather, stiff as a board! You know that game," she finished quickly, giving meaningful glances to Jazz and Tucker beside her. "Oh, right!" Jazz chimed in.

"Light as a feather, stiff as a board. Light as a feather, stiff as a board," they chanted, slowly shifting towards the basement door.

"Hmm," Jack responded skeptically. "You know, it doesn't really seem to be working." The trio froze in fear, Tucker's hand on the door knob.

"Ah, but you kids have fun anyway!" Jack smiled, humming to himself about cookies as he went upstairs.

"Phew," Tucker said as they laid Danny gingerly behind the seat of the Specter Speeder, "THAT was a close one."

"Good thing it wasn't Mom," Jazz agreed as she and Sam settled into their seats.

Tucker started the engine, driving the group of teens into the ghost zone. "Frostbite, here we come."

* * *

At first, all Danny could feel was pain. His chest was burning, burning so fiercely he could barely breathe. Eventually, the burning faded to an uncomfortable numbness, and his hands and feet tingled until he finally moved.

"Ughh," he moaned, lifting his head ever so slightly. At first he couldn't see anything at all but darkness - slowly, very slowly, the world around him shifted and molded, changing from fuzzy blobs to solid shapes.

"Where am I?"

When he could finally sit up, he found himself in the strangest place he'd ever been - even compared to the ghost zone. The sky was purple, with green clouds hanging over him like some kind of toxic smog. The tall grass he found himself sitting in was a cobalt blue color - nothing was making sense.

"Hello?" He called. "Hello!" But to no reply. "Oh great," he thought, "I'm either dreaming, or dead." This idea picked at him as he slowly stood up, placing a hand to his head in an effort to curb his dizziness. "_Dreaming or dead, dreaming or dead, dreaming or dead..._" His words echoed around him. Which was it?

"Well, I don't think ghosts feel pain," he reasoned as his chest tingled, "except when I'm kicking their butts of course." He smirked. Not dead, surely dreaming. Surely.

As he looked around, he realized he was standing at the top of a tall hill. As he began moving down, it occurred to him how quiet everything was. "No birds, no traffic, no one anywhere..." he thought. The silence filled him with unease.

After several minutes of walking, a very familiar building appeared over the next hill. "Casper High," he realized. "Oh great. This isn't just a dream...it's a nightmare."

Still, for as bad an idea as he knew it was, he couldn't help but let the tug of curiosity pull him towards the front door.

Once inside, everything changed. Suddenly the quiet became mass chaos, as everywhere students were chatting, opening and shutting lockers, and milling around. Danny made his way slowly through the crowd, trying to figure out why no one was looking at him. He caught a glance of his reflection in a locker mirror - ghostly white hair and green eyes. Huh. Normally that caught a little more attention.

Unless...unless...he spotted Sam over by her locker, surrounded by Dash and his group of A-list lameos. This wasn't a dream, it was a memory! That's why no one could see him. He knew exactly what day it was, because it was the first and last time Sam had worn that purple shirt. His stomach dropped; if it really was that day, this was going to be bad.

He made his way closer to Sam, wishing he could do something, but when he yelled at Dash to get away, no one even batted an eye. He was forced to watch as one of the worst days of freshman year played out once again, right in front of his face. He could remember it like it was yesterday - a week before he got his powers, he and his friends were established as losers and punching bags for the "it" crowd. But he'd never seen this part, when it was just Sam. She'd only told him and Tucker about it later.

"Hey, Freak!" Dash called, laughing when Sam turned from her locker to look at him. "Ha, that's right," he grinned at her response to the taunt. Sam just rolled her eyes.

"Did you need something?" she asked, her voice dripping with venom, one hand on her hip.

"Ha, yeah, I was just looking for your loser boyfriend, Fenturd. Seen him around?" Everyone in his group laughed at this, but Sam just turned away to reach back in her locker, ignoring it.

"Hey, Freak, he asked you a question!" One of the popular girls, whose name Danny couldn't remember, shoved Sam then, goading her to pay attention. Ripples of "yeah, Freak," "Witch," "Loser," and "Weirdo," spread through the crowd.

"Get away from me, Dog Breath," Sam hissed at the girl. "Ooooo," the crowd responded to her dis. The popular girl frowned, looking offended, then smirked.

"You know, Dash, Fentoad couldn't possibly be her boyfriend," she commented, "with an ugly face like that, she couldn't even get a loser like him!" The entire crowd guffawed at this, and the look on Sam's face broke Danny's heart. "Oh, and I'd stick to black if I were you," the girl leaned in and whispered so only Sam could hear, "that color is hideous on you."

The crowd was distracted as Danny's 14-year-old self and Tucker appeared around the corner. "Just the loser and geek I was looking for," Dash grinned, cracking his knuckles. The crowd moved towards them. Danny didn't need to see to be reminded how he and Tucker had been beaten to a pulp and shoved into lockers for the first time. He remembered wishing he could have stood up to the bullies - ironic that a week later he got his ghost powers.

With the group moving away, Danny was able to get a better look at Sam. She was frowning, and as she shut her locker wiped the shadow of a tear away from her face.

"Aw, Sammy," Danny said, tracing the path the tear had taken on her cheek. "You act so tough, like you don't care what anyone thinks, but they really got to you that day didn't they?" He moved to hug her, but she just turned to smoke and disappeared, along with all the other students in the hallway. Before he knew what was happening, Danny was left utterly alone.

Suddenly, the lights flickered and dimmed, and Danny felt a deep sense of foreboding.

"Hello?" he called, "anyone there?" Silence. And then...

"Danny..."

"Uh oh," Danny thought. "I know that voice." It was Sam, but not Sam.

"Oh Danny..." It was the voice Sam had used when she was possessed by Undergrowth. She had to be in trouble, so he quickly sped to the end of the hall, trying to follow her voice.

"Danny..." She called again, taunting him.

"I'm coming, Sam, hang on!" He rounded a corner, coming to a halting stop when he saw her at the end of the hall.

It had to be Sam, he knew it was, but the Sam in front of him was greater, more terrible, and more hauntingly beautiful than he had ever seen her. Standing next to her was a similarly amplified Tuck. They were both smirking evilly as he approached.

"Hello, Danny," Sam beckoned him with a finger, "come closer." He did, warily.

"Hey Sam, Tucker. Uh, nice look you've got going there..." He chuckled uneasily.

"Danny, we have something to tell you," Sam cooed. Tucker nodded in silence.

"Heh heh, what's up guys?" The closer he got to the ghostly dream versions of his best friends, the more terrifying they appeared.

"Danny, you have used and overlooked us for too long," Sam continued. "Always shoving me aside for vapid, shallow girls," she growled.

"Always getting me in trouble while you hog the limelight," Tucker agreed.

"I don't...I haven't..." Danny stuttered. As much as his friends didn't resent him in real life, they kind of had a point.

"You've taken us for granted too long," Sam finished, turning to Tucker.

"We don't need you," Tucker smiled, "we've got each other now..." And then, they did something he could never expect, but all at once realized he'd always feared.

They kissed.

Danny felt something feral stir inside him, an anger he could only define as...jealousy. As Sam and Tucker embraced, the rage only grew.

"Argh, that is SO wrong!" He cried, running to break the up the duo. But as he reached them, his hands only hit smoke. An echo of an evil giggle was all that was left of Dream Sam.

Just as he was sighing in relief, the smoke shapes began to change and re-form.

"Hello, Danny..." A dark mass with red eyes seized up from the smoke, filling the entire hall and towering over Danny.

"Dan," Danny gasped, glaring at the alternate reality future version of himself. "But you can't be here," he cried, "you can't!"

Dan's sinister laugh turned into a wail that sent Danny spiraling back, stirring up loose papers into a cyclone in the hall.

"I am ALWAYS here," Dan screeched as he swooped in on Danny, all menacing eyes and fangs. "Always just on the outside of your subconscious," he goaded, circling Danny, "always waiting...waiting for you to make the wrong choice and turn into ME!" Danny shivered in spite of himself, then, finally fed up with the nightmare, shouted back.

"I just want to wake up!" He cried, "why can't I just WAKE UP!" Danny's words turned into his own ghostly wail, dissolving Dan into nothingness. As Dan disappeared, Danny began calming down, his whole upper body heaving as he took in deep breaths.

And then a disembodied voice began to cackle from overhead, its sinister laughter reverberating all around.

"You'll NEVER wake up, Danny Phantom," the voice taunted, "Never!" Out of nowhere, the ghost of sleep, Nocturne, descended through the ceiling.

"Nocturne!" Danny cried, "I should have known you were behind all this!" Nocturne just threw his head back and laughed.

"Me, behind 'all this?'" He sneered. "No. I'm just taking advantage of a delicious situation!"

Danny frowned. "So, I'm not dreaming?" he asked.

"Oh you're dreaming alright," Nocturne smirked. "But before too long trapped in MY nightmares, you will wish you were dead!"


	3. Chapter 3

**Author's**** Note:**Thanks to everyone who has read, reviewed, favorited, followed, etc., so far! This is where it starts getting good so I hope you like it!

**Disclaimer:**I do not own Danny Phantom. I apologize if I get any details from the show wrong, and I definitely made up a lot of details about how Danny's ghost DNA works just for the purposes of this story. I don't think anything I talked about has been explained before, but if it is totally conflicting with something from the show then sorry in advance! Thanks for reading.

* * *

"Thank you for trusting me with the Great One, friends," Frostbite bowed to Jazz, Sam, and Tucker as his associates carried the sleeping Danny into his healing facility.

"You're the best friend we have in the Ghost Zone," Tucker replied, "thanks for helping us!" He leaned over to Sam. "And thanks for dropping the whole 'servants of the Great One thing,'" he whispered to her. She would have laughed, if she weren't so nervous.

"We will always be here to help a friend in need," Frostbite assured them. "You say he was stung by the Spectral Scorpion?" The trio nodded solemnly. "Never fear," Frostbite smiled, "we have the antidote here. The Great One will be fine." Jazz, Sam, and Tucker sighed a mutual sigh of relief.

"Please follow my servants to a common room down the hall where you can wait for now. I will come to you when he awakens."

"Thank you so much," Sam said as they were lead away. Frostbite nodded and moved to join his fellows in the lab.

"Well," Jazz said as they entered the common room, "now that we know Danny will be fine, I'm going to take a nap if you don't mind!" She collapsed on a sofa, asleep before the others could even respond.

"I wish I could sleep," Sam said quietly to Tucker after awhile.

"You should try, we know Danny is okay now," Tucker reminded her.

"Yeah, I know, I just can't help feeling worried," she sighed.

"I gotcha," Tucker winked. "Ah, young love..."

"Hey! We're just...really good friends..." Sam trailed off lamely.

"Right," Tucker agreed sarcastically. Fortunately, Sam was spared further teasing as he buried himself in a game on his PDA, apparently already bored with embarrassing the goth girl. Unfortunately, that left her all too wandering thoughts to their own devices.

She should have told him she knew he was visiting her at night. After all the time she'd spent with him in his ghost form, how could she not? But she'd been afraid if she told him he'd stop coming, and she had to admit she liked the feeling she got when he was there. Who knew being haunted could make you feel so safe?

She should have told him how she felt about him. Not that she even understood it herself really, but she was starting to. She could have told him that. She could have told him that he made her good days her best days, and her worst days bearable. That he's the only person she's ever known who could always make her smile, no matter what. That she cared about him, more than anyone. That she couldn't imagine her life without him in it. She should have told him.

What if she never got the chance?

This question echoed around her mind for what felt like hours.

"Excuse me..." Frostbite entered the room much later. Sam was instantly on edge. She tried to calm herself down, she was being ridiculous. Danny was fine, he was awake now and she could tell him anything she wanted. So why was her heart beating so fast?

"I have news about the Great One," Frostbite continued. "_News?_" Sam thought. What did that mean? Why was he frowning?

"It seems there has been a complication."

Sam froze, and for a moment she swore her heart stopped beating entirely.

"What's wrong?" Tucker asked. Sam was grateful; suddenly her mouth felt like it was full of cotton and she couldn't speak. Jazz sat up from the couch, looking as concerned and speechless as she felt.

"We think there is another problem, aside from the venom from his sting," Frostbite sighed. "Could one of you tell me, was the Great One spending much time in his ghost form recently?"

"Only almost all of his time," Tucker replied. "Amity Park has been overrun with ghosts lately; Danny's been working double triple overtime to keep everyone safe."

A dark look came over Frostbite's monstrous features. "I was afraid of that." He turned to the door, motioning for the teens to follow. "Here, come with me to visit with your friend. I will explain when we are with him."

"Is he awake?" Tucker asked hopefully.

"No," Frostbite answered. "That is the problem."

* * *

"Nocturne!" Danny yelled, his heart racing. He was bathed in a spotlight, surrounded by the small ring of light. Outside it, everything around him was pitch black, empty nothingness. He turned around, muscles tense and twitching, waiting for an attack he knew would come. Out of the corner of his eye he swore he saw movement, but when he looked again there was nothing but darkness.

"Nocturne!" He shouted again, the name echoing off invisible walls as if he were inside a monstrous cavern. After long last a giggle responded to him - the sinister giggle he associated with Shadow Sam. For some reason, this haunting noise seemed to steel his resolve.

"I know you're trying to scare me," he called, "but I'm a little old to be afraid of the dark!" He grimaced when he heard Nocturne laughing at this.

"Oh, you will be, ghost boy, you will..." the specter of sleep taunted.

Suddenly, Danny noticed smoggy shapes rising from the darkness. One by one, they grew and took form, moaning as they stretched to their full height - twice as tall as Danny. The green monsters with Xes for eyes and sown mouths could only be Nocturne's Sleep Walkers. Danny knew he could take them - except more and more rose from the nothingness, until he was surrounded by hundreds, closing in on him from every side.

"Hey Creep Walkers!" He goaded, sounding braver than he felt. "Come and get me if you can!" And then he flew.

Or he would have, except that he couldn't.

"What?" He gasped, glancing down at his hands. He was still in ghost mode, so why couldn't he fly?

Nocturne cackled from above. "Naive Phantom, don't you know that I make the rules here?"

Danny tried to shoot his ghost ray, he tried using his freeze ray, but only the feeblest of sparks came out of his hands. Eyes wide and full of terror, he froze as the endless army of Sleep Walkers overcame him, pressing in on him, smothering him, tearing at him. This was the end, there was no surviving this - they would tear him limb from limb.

He struggled, kicking and punching, even as they grabbed his arms and legs to hold him down. As the panic mounted in his chest and his heart raced, Danny could take it no longer.

"NO!" He wailed, and to his relief, the ghostly cry pushed away his attackers, dissolving them back into smoke.

"What a delicious taste of fear," Nocturne laughed from above. "Care for another portion?"

And there was Shadow Sam, in all of her terrible, beautiful glory, standing under a spotlight like the one Danny rested in, his chest still heaving from the attack.

"Hello, Danny..." she cooed. Danny hated that Nocturne already knew this was his weakness. He couldn't stand for her to be used against him.

"No," Danny repeated, "NOT again! You are NOT Sam!" Suddenly he was overwhelmed with images of the real Sam, her thick dark hair, her smile and soft laughter, her smell, her beautiful violet eyes...

And then everything changed. He shook his head, dizzy as though he had fallen. No longer surrounded in darkness, he found himself on a shady hillside, the sun shining over head and Sam, as he remembered her, sitting beside him.

"It's okay, Danny," she whispered, "it's going to be okay, I promise."

He believed her.

* * *

"His condition now is stable, but we believe him to be in critical danger." Frostbite's words echoed dully in Sam's mind as he led them into the treatment room. There, lying on a bed off to the side of the room, hooked up to some kind of machine, was Danny. His hair still shockingly white, he looked somehow smaller than she remembered. His torso was bare, revealing the many bandages needed for his sting. If they could save him from that, then why...

"What's wrong with him?" Tucker mercifully completed her trail of thought. Noticing a chair by Danny's bedside, Sam took it without a second thought.

"Our people are an ancient and wise race," Frostbite began, "however, we know very little of other beings like the Great One, so it is difficult to say." He clicked a button on a remote, and a virtual screen appeared in front of them. "We've run several simulations based on the origin story of how the Great One gained his powers," Frostbite continued, an outline of a human and ghost side by side on the screen. They melded into one as he spoke. "It appears the Great One is very lucky, and possesses a special gene which allows his transformations. Only one out of a thousand humans would have reacted to the ecto-radiation in such a way, when his cells accepted the ghost molecules."

"How would most people react?" Jazz asked.

"Most people would have been killed instantly," Frostbite responded calmly.

"Okay, so we probably shouldn't try to get our own ghost powers," Tucker joked.

Jazz frowned at Tucker's flippancy. "What about Vlad?" she asked.

"The one they call Plasmius possess the same gene," Frostbite confirmed. "Lightning does occasionally strike twice in the same place. At any rate," he continued, remote clicking. The new slide pictured a strand of DNA with a few green spots that had to be Danny's ghost parts. "While the Great One was able to incorporate ghost DNA and live, his ghost and human cells have only co-existed in a perilously fragile state of balance, fortunately never broken before now."

"Before now," Jazz repeated slowly. "What does that mean?"

"We believe the Great One's prolonged use of his ghost half of late has caused the balance to tip," he replied. Click. A picture of a DNA strand overwhelmed by green appeared. "His ghost cells have begun to eat away at his living cells. This has been making him ill for some time, and is the reason he has been unable to completely transform back to his human self. His sting from the Spectral Scorpion exasperated this effect, acting as a catalyst which has put him in a coma."

There was silence, except for a final click of the remote, the screen disappearing.

"If we cannot stop and reverse this process," Frostbite continued, "his human half will be destroyed."

"So, he's dying?" Sam asked quietly, her voice cracking. She found herself on the verge of tears.

Jazz put a hand on her shoulder, comforting her. "You sound like you have an idea, Frostbite."

"I believe there is a way to reverse the process," Frostbite agreed, "though some of my fellows do not agree with my ideas."

"We'll try anything," Sam pleaded, desperate and hopeful.

"What we have to do is remind the Great One, and his body, that he is still alive - that he's still human." Frostbite said. "All the time he's spent in his ghost form has convinced his body that he isn't. But while any living cell remains, there is hope."

"So, what do we have to do?" Tucker asked.

"I believe our best, and perhaps only hope, is a kiss." Frostbite looked pointedly at Sam.

"A kiss," she echoed dully. "I'm sorry, but you've got to be kidding me. What is this, 'Sleeping Beauty'?" she asked sarcastically.

"More like 'Sleeping Phantom,'" Tucker sniggered.

"This is no joke," Frostbite scowled. "A kiss possesses deep and ancient magic."

"Magic?" Sam scoffed, "I thought we were talking about science here."

"What is science but the purest form of magic?" Frostbite replied philosophically. "A human kiss is the one thing a ghost most longs for and can never have. Ghosts may form relationships amongst each other, and a ghost may hold the love of one left behind amongst the living, but only a human can experience his true love's kiss. A kiss is what we need; a kiss could bring the Great One back to life."

Sam was left slightly speechless, and blushed a deep red when she realized everyone was staring at her - including a dozen or so of Frostbite's associates.

"Um," she coughed nervously. "Why are you all looking at me...?"

Tucker smirked. "Duh, you're going to kiss Danny and 'restore his humanity,'" he said, wiggling his eyebrows.

"Uh uh!" Sam protested. "Why doesn't Jazz just kiss him? He's her brother, that makes the most sense," she tried to reason, but everyone was looking at her like she had two heads.

"He said 'a true love's' kiss, Sam," Tucker laughed. "It's supposed to be a romantic thing. Sisters definitely don't qualify."

"Danny and I don't – " she protested, only to be cut off immediately.

"Sam, it's not like you guys haven't kissed before," he reminded her. She gulped, blushing even more furiously and looking resolutely at her feet.

"That was different, it wasn't romantic," she argued.

"This is not any different," Tucker disagreed, frowning.

"Sam," Jazz said gently, bending over to meet her lowered eyes. "You said yourself, we'll try anything. Frostbite knows the most about these things out of all of us, and what he's suggesting kind of makes sense. If he thinks it might work, it's definitely worth a shot. We've got nothing to lose at this point, and we all want to see Danny wake up." Jazz sighed, a tear forming in the corner of her eye. "Please, Sam," she whispered. "Please just try it."

Sam was overwhelmed by Jazz's emotions. The normally stoic and confident Jazz, the one who always had it together, was losing it. So was Sam. So much pressure on her...what if it didn't work, because she didn't do it right or something? If he died, then it would be her fault. But if she didn't at least try, she would be doubly at fault. She sighed.

"Alright, alright, I'll kiss him, geez," she agreed at last, grudgingly. "But I need everyone in this room to turn around and stop staring at me!"

Slowly, everyone complied, turning to face a wall. This left her with a conflicting sense of privacy and nakedness. The last time she'd kissed Danny, she hadn't even thought about it. It had just been what she'd needed to do to save his skin at the time, and she did it without stopping to ponder the consequences. When Danny had kissed her, she hadn't had time to even register what was happening before it was over. This, this was different. There was all too much trepidation in this.

"Any day now!" Tucker called, back still turned.

"If you don't shut up, Tucker, I've got photo evidence that says you should be the one trying this, and I'm not afraid to show it to the world," she threatened.

"Just get on with it!" he groaned.

"Shush, alright already." She took a deep breath, trying to steady herself.

"It's okay, Danny," she whispered as she leaned in, "it's going to be okay, I promise." And with that, their lips touched.

There was a flash of light.

Frostbite, Jazz, Tucker, and the others turned around, surprised. Danny was alone, the chair next to his bed empty. Sam was gone.

"Well," Frostbite frowned, "THAT was unexpected."

* * *

**Note: **I really hope you liked this chapter! The next one is just about finished so let me know what you think so far and I'll get it posted. Thanks!


	4. Chapter 4

**Note: **Thanks for all the positive feedback so far! Sorry I was a little delayed in posting, I decided to add a little extra to the end of this chapter. I hope you enjoy it!

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Danny Phantom.

* * *

Everyone in the lab stood in stunned silence for a moment, until Tucker snapped to his senses.

"Sam!" he cried, rushing forward towards Danny.

"Do NOT touch him!" Frostbite growled. Tucker froze with a hand hovering over Danny's arm. "Get back," Frostbite commanded, and Tuck was quick to comply.

"It is worse than I feared," Frostbite continued, pressing buttons on the machine Danny was hooked up to and frowning.

"Where's Sam?" Jazz asked, "What's happening to Danny?"

"The Great One is emitting his ghost powers at such a high frequency it seems some were transferred to the girl. She's accidentally overshadowed him."

"What does THAT mean?" Tucker frowned, looking from Frostbite to Danny to the dazed Jazz.

"It means we have even less time than we thought, and two lives at stake," Frostbite growled. "I am sorry friends, but I will need you to relocate somewhere out of the way." Jazz and Tucker opened their mouths to protest, but were grabbed by two large yeti-like snow monsters. "Please take them back to the waiting area and make sure they stay there," Frostbite ordered as they were dragged away. "I'll send word when I know more!" he promised, but Jazz and Tucker were not consoled.

As the door slammed shut in front of them, they began to realize they might lose both Danny and Sam. And there was nothing they could do.

* * *

For a moment, Danny was distracted by her voice. And then everything changed - the sun disappeared, replaced by dark clouds. Worse, Sam was gone, turned to smoke and swept away by the wind, replaced by several of Danny's least favorite ghosts - each hundreds of feet tall.

He was knocked over from an ecto blast, coming to a crashing halt as his back collided with a tree. He shook his head, trying to will his body to rise up in flight - but found himself locked to the ground.

Then there was a flash of light. He turned to see Sam back, sprawled on the ground and looking dazed and confused. "Oh great," he thought as a blast missed her by inches. Even if she was just a dream, he couldn't let her get hurt - but he could barely help himself. He leapt to his feet and dragged Sam behind the cover of a tree. She put a hand to her head.

"Danny?" she asked, trying to focus on his face. Then, her eyes widened as she looked around.

"Ohmigod, Danny, am I in your dream?!"

"Uh," Danny was completely taken aback. What a strange thing for someone in your dream to say. He was distracted, however, by the many ghost rays raining down. As the tree they were hiding behind was blasted to smithereens, he grabbed the still-confused Sam and darted to hide behind a new one.

"Geez, I know they say 'dream big', but this is just ridiculous," she said peering out to the giant ghosts in front of them. "Why aren't you fighting?"

"Nocturne," Danny explained grimly. "He's messing with my powers, I can barely use them!"

"Danny, unless I'm the one dreaming here and I'm pretty sure I'm not, this is YOUR dream. You can do whatever you want!"

"No, I can't," he argued, "I can't even fly!"

"You can fly if you want to! Heck, you could even make ME fly because it is YOUR dream," she repeated, shaking him for emphasis. His eyes strained in thought for a moment, and suddenly Sam was levitating off the ground.

"Oh wow, I was definitely joking!" She said nervously, holding her hands out for balance.

"Yeah, well I'm not. Let's get out of here!" With another grimace of concentration, Danny managed to lift off the ground. Taking her hand, he sped them off in the opposite direction of the ghosts.

"Okay, so tell me how you know this is a dream again?" Danny asked as they flew.

"Um, Danny, it's me, Sam," she said, lifting an eyebrow.

"Duh," he responded. "But you're just part of my dream. How does a dream know it's in a dream?"

"Because I'm not a dream, Danny! I'm the real Sam! I was - we brought you to Frostbite, because we needed help treating your sting, and then I..." she faltered, embarrassed. "Then I...touched you...and now I'm here. But I was just with your body at Frostbite's lab."

Danny stared at her, flabbergasted, and they went crashing to the ground.

"Great," Sam sighed. "Just great. I end up in the dream where you have no powers and we get chased by giant ghosts. Joy."

"Now hang on," Danny pulled her up, frowning. "How could you possibly be the real Sam, here in my dream? And even if that were possible, how do I know you're not just another trick sent by Nocturne to torture me?" He asked, crossing his arms over his chest.

"First of all, it's possible because it's happening right now. Second, you know Nocturne isn't the reason this is going on, right?" Before she could continue, another blast landed barely a foot away, causing them to crash back to the ground. The ghost giants, it seemed, had caught up. Suddenly, the teens realized they were on the steps of Casper High.

"Huh," Sam commented, "that's a neat trick." She and Danny darted up the steps, hoping to find safety in the building.

However, once the front doors shut behind them, they realized they'd walked right into Lancer's classroom. "This really is a nightmare," Danny sighed. "I think I'll take my chances with the ghosts, thanks."

"Ah Mr. Fenton, Ms. Manson, thank you for joining us," Lancer greeted them sarcastically. "Care to explain why you are 20 minutes late to class?" Wondering how Lancer knew he was Danny Fenton when he was definitely still in his ghost form, Danny was spared the trouble of answering when the roof was torn off. A giant Technus peered in.

"Hello children," the ghost said evilly as everyone darted from their seats, running and screaming.

"Uh, we were dealing with that," Danny replied to the now empty classroom. "But I think now would be a good time to run." They quickly followed the others out into the hall.

"Danny, remember this is YOUR dream," Sam reminded him again as they sped through the halls, heading towards the back exit. "Your dream, Danny, you're the boss!" They burst out the doors as Fenton Works materialized in front of their eyes. "That's more like it!" she smiled.

Just as they reached the door, Danny stopped her. "Wait," he said. "Before you come in I need to know you're not just some trap sent by Nocturne."

"Are you kidding me?" she cried. "There are like four super-sized ghosts all about to crash in on us and we're going to do this _now_? I already told you, I am the real Sam!" she insisted.

"Then what's something only the real Sam would know?" he asked, frustrated.

"Uh, when you were five you wanted a puppy?" she replied, looking panicked.

"No! I know that you know that, you could still be my subconscious. It needs to be something...I wouldn't know you know..." Danny ignored the ghosts closing in, staring intensely at her instead.

"Oh come on," Sam protested, making a move to open the door, but Danny barred her way.

"You don't understand what I've been through," he said earnestly, "I need to know for sure." His eyes were glowing fierce green, and she gulped at his seriousness.

"I..." she paused, her heart racing. "I...know you've been coming to see me at night while you ghost hunt," she finally blurted. Danny's eyes widened in shock.

"Wow, yeah, that'd do it," he said yanking her inside. "Ghost shield on!" he cried, just as the ghostly monsters closed in on the house. They could hear their wails of pain and frustration as they were zapped by the ghost shield. Danny and Sam were both breathing heavily, relieved to be safe, and also nervous about what had been revealed.

"You knew?" Danny asked quietly after a moment.

"Well, yeah," she said. "Come on, I've been with you since you first got your ghost powers, I know how it feels when you're around in your ghost form."

"Why didn't you say anything?" he practically whispered, and Sam melted at the puppy dog look on his face. She almost didn't answer him, but then felt nauseous at the thought that she'd never tell him - that he was still in danger, and she might never have another chance.

"I was afraid if I told you, you'd stop," she explained, eyes downcast, "and...it made me feel...safe." They were both quiet for a moment, Sam refusing to meet Danny's eyes.

Finally, Danny put a hand on her arm and turned to walk upstairs. "Let's go to my room," he suggested. She nodded, following him.

"So, you're actually here. In my dream," he repeated as they sat on his bed.

"Yeah," Sam agreed, "but I'm really not sure how it happened."

Danny looked away for a moment, and then asked the question that was burning away at him. "What's wrong with me Sam? Why can't I wake up?"

Sam frowned and sighed. "Like I said, we took you to Frostbite to heal your sting," she started. "But even though he gave you the antidote, you still weren't better." She looked away from him, unable to meet his eyes. "Frostbite thinks you've been spending so much time in your ghost form lately that your ghost cells are starting to attack your human ones. That's why you're stuck in a coma and you can't change back to human. Your body is attacking itself." She met his eyes finally. "Frostbite is trying to save you, but his best idea failed right before I ended up here..." she admitted bitterly, trailing off.

Danny sat for a moment, straining to wrap his head around the situation. He rubbed his hand over his face, trying to understand it all. "I...okay, but how did you get here?"

"I'm really not sure," Sam repeated. "Like I said, I just...touched you, and then I was here. It felt a lot like when you and I overshadowed Nocturne though," she added thoughtfully.

"Hm," he replied. "If my ghost half is starting to get that powerful, maybe just touching me transferred some of my powers to you and you overshadowed me accidentally," he suggested. Sam stared at him.

"That actually makes a lot of sense," she said. "Since when has my C-student gotten so smart?" she teased.

"Ha, ha," he replied sarcastically. "I'll have you know I'm a solid B minus student now!" They both smiled, until Danny realized something.

"Sam," he said, looking up at her gravely. "If Frostbite is right, you shouldn't be here. If I die, and you're here, I don't know - "

"You're NOT going to die," she cut him off, "and I'm NOT leaving. You obviously need my help. I can't let you face Nocturne and his bullies alone." He could see she was resolute - there would be no changing her mind.

"I'm probably just dreaming about Nocturne anyway..." he sighed.

"I don't know," Sam countered. "You both seem to be really fighting for control over your dream. I think he might actually be here."

They sat in silence for a moment, contemplating what it all meant. After awhile, Sam noticed a book on Danny's desk.

"Hey," she said smiling, "that's your scrapbook!"

Danny frowned as she got up to get it. "I definitely don't keep it there," he grumbled.

"Well maybe I have some control over your dream too, because I was just thinking we needed something to cheer us up." She sat the book between them, opening to the first page. There were pictures of Danny as a little kid - Danny and Jazz, Danny and his parents, Danny and Tucker. She flipped through the pages, cooing at the cuteness.

"You were such a cute little kid," Sam smiled, "why haven't I ever seen these pages before?"

"My mom made them for me," he muttered, embarrassed. "I keep these pages separate, mostly so I can't get blackmailed..."

Sam laughed softly to herself, turning the pages until she started recognizing pictures. There was Tucker and Danny on the first day of middle school. A picture of smiling faces on Danny's 12th birthday. And then she saw the first picture of her, Danny and Tucker, taken at a theme park a few weeks after she'd met them. Even though she'd been dreaming about that time over and over, she was still a little taken aback by her startlingly different appearance.

"Danny, why were you so nice to me back then?" she asked, sighing.

"What do you mean? You were the coolest," he said.

"I mean, I was pretty scary looking," she pointed out.

He laughed. "When you have parents like mine, you get used to not taking first impressions too seriously. Besides, I thought you were pretty. And you were entirely responsible for my B+ in science that semester," he pointed out, smiling.

"You thought...I was pretty...back then?" she asked, a little stunned. His hand jumped to the back of his neck in embarrassment.

"I still do, duh," he chuckled, then grimaced as a wave of stabbing pain washed over him.

"Are you okay?" Sam asked, concerned.

"I'm fine," he reassured her, trying to block out the pain. After a moment, he resumed the conversation about the pictures, trying to distract Sam from his discomfort.

"Remember that?" he asked. It was a picture of Danny, Sam, and Tucker at their first high school dance.

"Well, I was a dragon for a large portion of the night, so yes, I do." They laughed.

"Besides that, it was a good night," he agreed. "We had our first dance together."

As if waiting for this cue, music began drifting up from below. It sounded like an old time record player, sounding an old fashioned jazzy waltz.

"Huh," Sam said, surprised. "I guess I do have some power here."

"What do you mean?" Danny asked.

"When I was a little girl, my parents used to throw a lot of dinner parties. They'd always play music like this," she explained. "I used to love falling asleep to it..." she drifted off, yawning a little.

"Sam," he said suddenly, "have you slept?"

She froze mid-yawn. "Uh," she stammered. "Of course," she lied.

"When?" he asked skeptically, narrowing his eyes.

"Um," she started, "I took a nap, this morning." She looked down, guilty. Danny sighed.

"You need to sleep," he insisted. "Just because you're in my dream doesn't mean you don't need sleep."

"Danny, I'm not going to sleep," she argued, "you need me to keep you focused or Nocturne will kick your butt." She smiled as a thought occurred to her.

"Hey, wanna dance?" she asked, hoping to distract him. The music swelled in response, surrounding them with its sweet melody. "You know, seeing that picture of us at the dance and the music and all, I feel like if this were a normal dream we'd be dancing right now."

Danny smiled. He knew what she was playing at, but he wanted to anyway. "Well, if it's a dream dance you want," he said taking her hand in his, "then that's what you'll get."

As they began to sway in time, the floor slowly disappeared beneath them - and then the walls, and the roof, until they were floating in a starry sky.

"Now THAT'S more like it," Sam agreed, secretly delighted. It wasn't very "goth" to enjoy something as gooey romantic as this, but she couldn't help it. "When did you learn how to waltz?"

"I haven't," he shrugged, smiling, "but as you keep reminding me, this is _my_ dream, so I can do whatever I want."

"I should hang out in your dreams more often," she smiled. Danny flashed his lop-sided grin. What could he say? She already did.

A few minutes of spinning and twirling left Sam feeling dizzy and breathless, a feeling amplified when Danny sank her into a perfect dip. It made her light-headed, looking upside down at the starry view. He slowly raised her back up, until they were face to face, both out of breath, his hands on her back holding her close.

She hardly noticed they'd stopped dancing. She was full with the music and the stars and his eyes. For a moment she thought she saw a flash of blue in them, but all thoughts floated out of her mind as his face inched closer to hers. She tilted upwards to meet him, her eyes fluttering shut.

"Sammy," he whispered, his breath tickling her cheek. She smiled.

And then with a jerk on her navel, she fell. The music came to a shuddering halt and the stars disappeared, replaced once again by Danny's room. They crashed on the bed in a heap.

"Ooph," she groaned. She'd had the wind knocked out of her in more than one way.

"Ow," Danny agreed, rubbing his head. "Sorry, I lost focus," he apologized. They both blushed, embarrassed. Had they almost just kissed?

Sam sat up, swinging her feet off the bed and turning her back on the ghost boy. Her heart was racing, and she placed a hand over her mouth in confusion. What was that? Had they just been swept up in the dream, or did it mean something more? It wasn't like she'd never thought about it - she thought about it more than she cared to admit. But he was her best friend, and she was terrified to explore those feelings. What if it went wrong? What if she lost him?

The silence broke as Danny started coughing, and the reality of that possibility returned to her.

"Are you okay?" She turned back to him in concern.

He looked up, eyes half closed in pain, hand clutching his chest.

Not okay.

He'd felt fine only moments before, but suddenly Danny was overwhelmed with pain. His chest had tightened so much he could barely breathe. He gasped for air.

"Danny!" Sam cried, closing the space between them and grabbing his hand. As she did so, the constriction began to alleviate.

"I'll be...okay," he said in shuddering breaths, trying to calm down and breathe evenly.

Once he seemed better, Sam released the death grip she'd been keeping on his hand with a muttered apology. But Danny didn't hear.

"Agh!" A moan escaped as another wave of pain washed over, a pounding, stabbing ache that rolled down his whole body. Sam's hands jumped to her face as she watched his reaction in horror. He was sweating, heaving, barely able to breathe.

"What can I do?" she asked desperately. This was terrible; his body was in so much pain it was reaching his subconscious.

"You have to...get out of here... Please Sam," Danny begged.

"No," she said resolutely, taking his hand in hers again. "I can't leave you. Don't ask me to." He frowned, wishing he could change her mind.

After a minute, he felt himself calming down as the pain dissipated. Noting this, Sam withdrew her hand from his grasp. Immediately pain overcame him once more. He grabbed her hand back, and it subsided.

"If you're going to stay," he said quietly, resigned, "then stay close to me. It helps."

She frowned, and helped him lean against the pillows, sitting up so he could breathe. He closed his eyes and gave her hand a reassuring squeeze.

A gentle rain began to fall, trickling against the windows. The rhythmic tapping and distant rolls of thunder was soothing, lulling them into calmness. After a few minutes, Sam began to tire. Danny's twin bed was small, and she found herself laying against his body, her head on his chest and arms around his torso. He sighed, wrapping his arms around her as well.

"Is this weird for you?" she asked, nervous she was making him uncomfortable.

"No," he replied. "Is it weird for you?"

"No." She shifted herself closer.

Danny felt better with every moment spent holding Sam. He took a deep, steady breath, watching her head rise and fall with his chest. It was comforting.

After awhile, music began to play again from the faraway phonograph. This song was sweet and slow like a lullaby, and mixed with the soft sounds of rain, relaxed him. Sam as well it appeared; he could feel her beginning to fall asleep.

"Aren't you cold?" He wondered suddenly.

"Hm?" Sam asked.

"You know, you say when I'm in my ghost form I'm cold," he reminded her.

"No, actually you're really warm..." She sat up half way, and they both looked down at Danny's body. It was human. Sam's eyes darted to Danny's face, hopeful, but then sighed in disappointment. "Still white and green." She bit her lip, thinking. "But, this is a really good sign! They must be figuring it all out." She smiled to him before returning her head to his chest.

"Don't fall asleep," she whispered sometime later, giving him a squeeze and fighting sleep herself. "If you lose concentration Nocturne might take over."

"I won't," he promised, placing his chin gingerly on her head. He felt so much better; so good he couldn't believe it. The rain and the music and Sam's beating heart against his all surrounded him, soothing him. It was hard to remember why he was there or that he was dreaming, though it was all strange yet perfect, as only dreams can be.

He sat like that for what felt like a long time, comforted and calm. He breathed in the citrusy flowery scent that was Sam – the scent he now realized was his favorite smell in the world. Slowly, very slowly, his eyes began to droop. He shifted to rest his cheek on top of her head, holding her a little closer. He wondered vaguely if it was even possible to fall asleep in a dream, before letting go of all thoughts.

He let his eyes fall shut. In that moment, it was just him and Sam. That was all that mattered in the world.

* * *

**Note: **I hope you liked all the fluff! If not, the next chapter will be a little more exciting. As always, let me know what you thought and thanks for reading!


	5. Chapter 5

**Note: **Thanks to everyone who's read so far! I'm glad you guys liked the fluff, because there's more to come. Enjoy!

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Danny Phantom.

* * *

Tucker and Jazz felt like fugitives, in the place they'd once been guests. They sat in what they'd once thought of as the waiting room, but now seemed more like a cell, arms crossed, frowning. Surrounding them were half a dozen burly guards.

"What do you think we're going to do?" Jazz cried at last in frustration. "You think we're going to steal Danny? WE ARE THE ONES WHO BROUGHT HIM HERE!" She stood, ready to give the guards a piece of her mind.

"Calm down, Jazz," Tucker said, gently taking her arm to lower her back into her seat. She sat reluctantly with a "humph", seething as she glared out at the unperturbed guards.

"Check it out," Tucker nudged her once he was sure they were ignoring them again. Jazz glanced over to the PDA he was holding, and noticed many different sets of numbers.

"What's that?" she asked.

"I hacked into the medical system. We're looking at Danny's live stats remotely." Jazz's jaw dropped.

"Remind me to never underestimate you again," she said, eyes wide.

He chuckled. "Noted. Now look at this, they're keeping track of Sam's vitals too." He scrolled up, revealing another set of numbers.

"So what's been going on?" Jazz asked.

"It's strange," Tucker said, flipping back down to Danny. "His vitals have been all over the place. They rise, then fall, then rise, then fall...I'm really not sure what's going on. From what I can tell, Frostbite hasn't started any new treatment. It seems like Danny's just really fighting this thing."

Jazz watched the numbers for a few moments, transfixed. It was the only news she'd had about her brother for what felt like hours.

"What about Sam?" she asked after some time.

"Her numbers aren't exactly normal, but she's fine. Her heart rate has seen a few spikes but that's about it."

"Do you think she could really get hurt in there?" Jazz wondered.

"I'm not sure." He sighed. "I would guess that if...something happened to Danny...she would be ejected from his consciousness, not harmed. But, I don't know."

They sat in silence for awhile, watching the numbers and nursing their individual worries. After some time, Jazz finally spoke.

"Do you think they're together? In Danny's dream?" she asked.

"Most definitely," Tucker replied, reassuring her.

Jazz smiled. "You're right. It's probably good she's there. I mean, Danny's only been in love with her since the day they met."

Tucker did a double take. He wished he had a drink just to spit out.

"Are you kidding?" He asked, incredulous. "I'm his best friend. I think I'd know if he'd liked her that long."

"Well I'm his sister, and I know my baby brother," she replied wiggling her eyebrows. "He's always been crazy about her." She caught the skeptical look Tucker was giving her. "Oh maybe he's had crushes on other girls and maybe he hasn't always pursued it or admitted it, but mostly because he never thought he had a chance."

Tucker sat back in his chair, looking at Jazz with fresh admiration. He'd always thought Sam was the one who'd carried the long-term crush, but the more he thought about it, the more he supposed Jazz was right. Danny _had _been really eager to get to know her when they met. "Well, Fenton, remind me not to underestimate _you_ again."

She smiled, pleased. "Noted."

Tucker looked back to the PDA and sighed. "One of them needs to say something before it's too late," he said darkly.

"Oh give them time," Jazz countered. "It's not easy when you're young."

Tucker scoffed. "Are you 18 or 48?" he asked sarcastically. She opened her mouth to rebut, but before she could, the PDA began to beep.

"Uh oh," Tucker frowned, looking at the vitals on the screen.

"Uh oh?" Jazz echoed. "What's 'uh oh?'" She tried to look over his shoulder, but couldn't decipher the numbers herself. "Tucker. What's 'uh oh'?" She repeated, forcefully and concerned. Tuck met her eyes reluctantly.

"Danny's vitals are crashing," he answered at last. The PDA continued to beep through the shocked silence. They stared at the rapidly falling numbers. "He's going to flatline," Tucker said hollowly.

Jazz's eyes welled with tears. She placed a hand over her mouth, suppressing a sob. They were so helpless. They were going to lose him, and there was nothing they could do. She closed her eyes and looked away, sinking her head into her hands.

And then, just as suddenly as it started, the beeping stopped. The numbers started to rise - and rapidly.

"Jazz, look, he's getting better!" Tucker nudged her, pointing at his PDA. She gasped in relief, turning to watch the numbers climb.

"Wow, this is crazy," Tucker commented. "I mean, he's almost back to normal..."

Jazz frowned. "But why?"

They looked at each other, then back at the PDA. "Hey, check out Sam's stats." He said, re-winding the feed to inspect Sam's changes. "She had a huge heart rate spike when Danny's vitals dropped, and then calmed down as he started getting better."

"So?" Jazz asked.

"So," Tucker continued, going back to the live view. "That's proof she's with him. And since she's with him, maybe she's what caused him to get better. What if Frostbite was right?"

Jazz stared at him for a moment, taken a back.

"Oh my gosh, what if Frostbite was right?" She repeated, astounded.

"That's what I just said," Tucker threw a hand up for recognition, but Jazz wasn't paying attention.

"Frostbite said Danny needed to be reminded of his humanity. When Sam kissed him in the lab, he wasn't awake. So he didn't know what was happening. But if she kissed him in his dream - "

"Maybe then it would work." Tucker finished her sentence with a smile.

"We've got to get a message to her," Jazz realized, frowning. "But how?"

Just then, the door opened.

"The one they call 'Jazz'," Frostbite addressed her, entering. "I don't have much news, except that the Great One lives. We thought we'd lost him, but there's still hope. We'd like a blood sample from you, to see what his DNA may have looked like before he obtained his powers, if we could reset it to normal."

"Sure," Jazz agreed. "But I want to see my brother. And Tucker's coming with." She stared at the snow monster resolutely.

"Very well," he replied after a moment's consideration. "I'll lead the way."

* * *

Sam felt warm - so very warm, so very comfortable. It occurred to her that she shouldn't be sleeping, that there was something she was forgetting. What it was escaped her, so she let it go, falling deeper into sleep instead.

Her dreams were strange and wonderful, unbelievable. They were dreams within a dream, she realized for a moment. Then she forgot again.

She found herself walking towards the high school. It was morning, before class. The skies were grey and heavy, and everyone was staring at her. That was not strange; what was strange was the way they were staring - not like she was weird, or a freak, but out of admiration. She noticed Danny walking towards her. "That's why they like me," she realized, "they like me because I'm with Danny." That was also strange - she wasn't wearing a letterman jacket, like in the last dream she'd had of them being together, and neither was he. They were just their normal selves, so why was everyone looking at them?

As she reached him, he stopped coming towards her, and with a sly grin started walking backwards.

"_What_ are you doing?" she asked, with mixed feelings of exasperation and amusement.

"I just want to watch you walking to me for a little longer," he said, flashing her his lop-sided grin. Sam could practically hear the other girls around her swooning. She rolled her eyes.

"How cheesy," she said sarcastically, but smiled anyway.

"You want cheese?" he asked, turning around to walk next to her. "Let me take your books." It wasn't actually a request; he took them before she could say anything.

"Boys," she sighed. "Do you always have to look so big and strong?"

"Ha. They're just books, it's not about looking strong. It's about showing off that I'm with you." They were certainly showing off; it seemed most people were still staring at them, having whispered conversations about them behind their hands.

They reached her locker with remarkable speed. "What do you need for first period? English?" he asked, phasing the rest of her books and his arm through the locker door.

She gaped at him. "What are you doing?" she whispered, trying to block him from view. It was one thing to use his powers when no one was looking - quite another to do it when he knew _everyone_ was looking. But he was unperturbed. A few freshmen actually clapped; he smiled and gave them a small wave. They ran off squealing, delighted. "Danny, what was that?" she asked, but he wasn't listening to her.

He tilted his head to look at her, all of a sudden seeming very concerned. "Are you okay?" he asked her. "You look really pale, like you're going to cry."

"What?" she replied, confused. "I'm fine, I don't feel like crying."

He tilted his head back the other way, eyes inspecting her features. "Alright, but when you do promise you'll talk to me about it."

She frowned, completely perplexed. And then out of nowhere, without knowing why, began to cry.

"Oh wow," she said shakily, wiping tears off her face. "How did you know that was going to happen?" He leaned in towards her, placing his hand on her chin. His thumb rubbed a little circle on her cheek, taking care of the tears she missed.

"I didn't," he said simply, "I just know you." It seemed like he was going to kiss her just then - but before he could, he disappeared. The entire school disappeared, and Sam was surrounded by darkness.

Slowly, a shadow grew and took form, and Sam realized why she was crying. It was Danny, in his bandages from his sting, lying dead before her. She'd failed him, she'd lost him, he was gone. She dropped to her knees and began to sob. Why couldn't she save him? She could have saved him, why couldn't she...

Someone was shaking her - hard. She opened her eyes with a start and remembered she'd been dreaming. Danny was hovering over her, looking concerned. She sighed in relief, trying to calm herself. He was fine. Well not fine exactly; they were trapped in his coma. But he was still alive, still with her.

"Sam?" He repeated - she realized he'd been saying her name. "Are you okay?" She sat up, putting a hand to her face and found it wet. She'd really been crying.

"Yeah, I'm fine," she said, embarrassed, wiping the tears away. "I just had a bad dream." She started as a thought occurred to her. "Were you there with me? In my dream?"

He looked perplexed. "No, you're with me in MY dream, remember?"

"This is so weird," she sighed. Looking around, she noticed they were no longer in Danny's room at the Fenton home. They were surrounded by stormy skies. She could feel rock under her hands, and hear angry waves crashing against some far away shore. "Um, where are we?" she asked, concerned.

"Don't get mad," he said, putting his hands up in defense, "I kind of fell asleep."

"You _what_?" she cried. He put a finger to her mouth, silencing her.

"I didn't even know you could fall asleep in a dream!" he explained, motioning for her to stay quiet. "But now we're in a little bit of a pickle..." She stood up, assessing the situation.

They were standing on the precipice of a cliff, only the cliff wasn't connected to anything. The rock they were on was maybe ten feet wide and long, but the water below looked hundreds of feet down. A fall would certainly mean death - and there was nowhere else to go.

"A pickle?" she repeated, incredulous. She turned in a circle to stare, horrified, at the surrounding edge. "Danny, we are literally sitting ducks." No sooner said than a wailing came from overhead. They looked up. Dozens of ghosts were circling them, moaning and angry, like vultures in the sky.

"Okay," Sam took a deep breath, calming herself. "Don't panic. Danny, just use your ghost powers to fly us to safety." She looked down from the ghosts to Danny, who was being unnervingly quiet. "Danny. Fly. Us. To. Safety. Now." He grimaced.

"I can't," he shook his head, eyes widened in alarm.

"Danny, you can," she assured him, trying not to lose her cool. He just kept shaking his head.

"I'm sorry," he pleaded, paralyzed in fear. The ghosts began closing in, swooping and diving. Sam batted them off, but they kept coming.

"No. You can," she insisted. "You c - " but before she could say anything more, a ghost flew into her chest, knocking her backwards. She threw her arms out for balance, but it was no use. She teetered on the ledge for a moment before tumbling off. She was going to fall, she was going to -

"Sam!" Danny cried, throwing himself out to catch her. He grabbed her hand out of the air, sliding on his belly to stop her from falling. Her body slammed against the cliff face, dangling from Danny's grip.

"Agh," she grunted, struggling to hang on. "Danny," she pleaded, voice straining and hand slipping. "You...can..." she gasped, falling from his grasp. Danny fumbled with thin air, trying desperately to get her back, but it was too late. She was gone.

He didn't think. He dove.

* * *

Sam was barely aware of falling. What she was most aware of was the wind buffeting around her, the rushing sound in her ears, and a pair of glowing, green eyes. Just as she thought it was all over, the whole world began to slow – the rushing and the wind stopped, and a pair of arms encircled her. She felt safe for a moment, and then they crashed into the water below.

They sank; for how long she wasn't sure. She decided she preferred the sensation of floating to falling, that being held was far better than grasping for air. But her lungs were burning, aching to breathe. Just when she thought she could take it no more, a flash of green surrounded her. They shot to the surface like a torpedo, and didn't stop until they were flying high above the water.

"Don't scare me like that again," she gasped, spitting water out of her mouth. "That was worse than the time you were controlled by Freakshow."

Danny cocked an eyebrow skeptically. "That was definitely worse than this," he argued.

"No way," Sam shook her head, "at least then I was sure you'd save me! This time...I've gotta say, I had my doubts."

He smiled, lowering to the ground and setting her down on a sandy beach. "I'll always save you," he assured her. "I'm the reason you get in trouble half the time anyway."

She scowled, wringing the water out of her hair. "You can say that again," she said darkly. He chuckled at the look on her face – it made her angrier, but he couldn't help it. She was so disheveled it was adorable.

They walked along the shoreline for awhile until they came upon some driftwood. Danny shot a ghost ray at it, starting a fire.

"Oh, _now_ you can use your powers," Sam said sarcastically, sitting down and warming her hands. "You know, not to save us from the hundred foot drop or the crash into the sea."

"I'm sorry," he apologized, sitting beside her and looking downcast. "I really don't know what happened." She waved her hand, stopping him from saying anything else.

"It's fine," she smiled. "I'm just glad we're alright. Now, where are the S'mores?" He laughed.

"I'm working on it. But," he frowned as a thought occurred to him. "What were you dreaming about before? When you were crying? You were so upset…."

Sam blushed, embarrassed. She thought about brushing it off, but then remembered what the Danny from her dream had said: _"When you do, promise you'll talk to me about it."_ He was always there for her; he deserved to know.

"It didn't start off as a bad dream," she began. "It was kind of like the dream I had when Nocturne took over. Everyone knew you had ghost powers, and they all really liked you. And they liked me, because we were…" she trailed off, blushing. "Anyway, then the dream changed. It was just me and...you…you were dead. I saw your body like how it is in Frostbite's lab now, and I thought I'd lost you. I'd failed you. It was horrible."

She closed her eyes as if to block out the memory, hiding her face in her hands. "I'm just so afraid you're not going to get through this," she whispered after a moment, turning back to him and looking into his eyes. "What if they can't figure it out? What if they can't help you?" She was starting to get hysterical. He took her hands in his, stopping her train of thought.

"_You've_ already helped me, Sam," he said softly, calming her down. "I feel so much better than before, I can't even tell you. And I know it's you being here that's doing it." He settled himself closer to her, leaning in to brush her tangled hair out of her face.

"You mentioned the dream you had when Nocturne took over everyone." She nodded, not sure why he was bringing it up. "I overshadowed you to wake you up then, so I saw it." She nodded again, still feeling embarrassed by that. "I didn't tell you before, but I had the same dream, Sam."

She shook her head, confused. "What do you mean?"

"I mean I had the _exact_ same dream as you did. We were together. We were really happy."

He smiled, drinking in the look of wonder on her face. She looked so pretty in the firelight, her hair all curly from the water and sand, the flames dancing in her eyes. Her lips looked perfect, and he couldn't resist the urge to lean in. His heart was racing; his nerves making him feel light-headed. She leaned in too. It felt right.

But a sinister laughter interrupted the still night, shattering the moment.

"Having sweet dreams, Ghost Boy?" Nocturne cackled. They broke apart, shocked.

"Oh no," they said in unison as Nocturne descended from the sky.

* * *

**Note: **Ah, even I am getting frustrated by all the interrupted moments! Never fear, we're almost to the end! I'm gearing up to write the finale - just one or two more chapters left. I'm having so much fun with this story it's a little sad it's almost done - but there is a lot more action (and fluff) to come. In the meantime, I hope you liked this chapter! Let me know what you thought and thanks again for reading!


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Danny Phantom.

**Note: **Well, here it is, the final chapter! As much as I hate to be done, I just couldn't stretch it out any longer. I hope you are as satisfied with the conclusion as I am. So without further ado, I present to you the epic finale. Enjoy!

* * *

Danny and Sam didn't have time to think. They didn't have time to react. Before they knew what was happening, Sleep Walkers emerged from the ocean, marching onto the beach around them. They instinctively moved to stand back-to-back, Sam grabbing a flaming log to defend herself, Danny curling his fists and hoping desperately he would be able to fight.

"Don't think you can run from me here, Ghost Boy!" Nocturne sneered as his minions surrounded them.

"They don't know you're not a dream," Danny whispered so only Sam could hear.

"So?" she whispered back, raising her torch above her head. "They look ready to tear me apart anyway!" she pointed out.

"So," he continued, "they won't expect you to FIGHT BACK." He shouted the last two words, as his fists began to alight with a green glow. Sam realized hers were doing the same. Her torch burst to bits as twin rays burst from her hands and Danny's at the same time.

"Oh SO cool," she grinned, punching the air and watching delighted as Sleep Walkers fell before her. Side by side, she and Danny drove the hordes of ghosts back, until they began to retreat and disappear.

"You're enjoying this just a little too much for an ultra-recyclo vegetarian," Danny chuckled, glancing back at her as he blasted away.

"Yeah, well even vegetarians get pissed off!" She smirked, putting all the fear and anxiety she'd been feeling into her punches, relishing the sense of control.

"I wouldn't get so cocky, little _hero_," Nocturne scoffed. "My game, my rules!"

"Well I'm not playing!" Danny shouted, looking around for the ghost of sleep to attack him personally. But the villain was nowhere to be seen.

Suddenly, the world went dark, wiping the confident smile off his face as surely as a punch to the gut. He spun around, finding himself alone.

"Sam?" he called, trying to make out a shape in the darkness. "Sam!" He jerked at a muffled sound from his right. He moved towards it, only to find his way blocked by an invisible barrier.

"SAM!" he cried, slamming his fist against the wall.

"Danny!" He heard his name faintly from the other side. And then, screams. Sam was screaming. She was screaming for _his_ help.

He pounded against the invisible wall, shouting her name. She was in danger, and he was helpless.

* * *

"Frostbite, I don't think this is going to help," Jazz said as the snow creature drew her blood. He sighed.

"It is possible we could use your genetic material to create a cure for the Great One," he replied, but his lack of confidence was evident.

"We don't have the time," Tucker reminded them. "I've been watching Danny's stats. They looked alright for awhile, but they're plummeting by the minute. I'd say he has less than an hour." Jazz's heart dropped into her stomach. She looked to Frostbite, the dark expression on his monstrous features the confirmation she'd feared.

"What if Sam could still save him?" Jazz asked desperately. "If she kissed him in his dream, would that work? Like you hoped it would before?"

"Perhaps," Frostbite said thoughtfully. "Magic often succeeds where science fails. How would we make this happen?"

"I was thinking we could try using the Fenton Phones to broadcast a message into his dream," Tucker responded instantly. He'd obviously been waiting to offer this theory. "I can re-wire them, with your help."

"We'd better act fast," Frostbite agreed. "I'll have my associates continue work on the cure from Jazz's DNA in the meantime. This is our last chance."

* * *

Danny was slamming his entire body into the wall, desperate to break it, focusing all his mental and bodily force on reaching Sam. Her muffled screams brought out a feral side of him he could not control. He was wild with panic, with the need to save her.

"Danny!" She cried. Yet, this was a different voice than the screams, a distant cry separate from them. "Danny! I'm fine, I'm fine," she called over and over. "This is your dream, Danny; you have the power, not him! NOT him!" All at once he realized the truth - Sam hadn't been screaming at all.

Fueled with an incredible mix of relief and rage, Danny released a powerful ghostly wail, shattering the barrier and the darkness. Sam appeared before him, completely unharmed. Danny smiled at the sight of her, until a crushing weight settled over his chest. He collapsed onto his knees, unable to cope with the sudden sensation of weakness.

Sam ran to him, kneeling and placing a hand on his shoulder. "What's wrong?" she asked anxiously. Danny took several deep breaths, trying to regain his balance and strength.

"I'm fine," he assured her after several tense moments. She shook her head doubtfully, helping him to his feet. He took her hand in his, comforting her.

Together, they looked around at their new surroundings. This time Danny's dream had taken them to a dense forest, full of towering evergreens. Rain dripped on them from higher branches, and they could hear the scurrying of hidden animals around them.

"This isn't so bad," Sam commented - just as an enormous, ghostly wolf leaped out of the darkness.

"And now it is," Danny grimaced. He moved in front of Sam, shielding her, and raised his fists defensively. The wolf barred its giant fangs, snarling. Danny managed to summon the energy for a ghost ray, before it sputtered to harmless sparks and disappeared.

"Well?" Sam urged, staring in terror at the beast looming over them.

"We'd better run," Danny admitted, slowly backing them away. The wolf licked his ghostly lips, leaning in.

"NOW!" Danny shouted, grabbing Sam's hand and dragging her out of reach of the gigantic jaws. They dashed through the trees, the growls of the wolf close on their heels. Sam's lungs burned from the effort, tree branches scratching and cutting at her as they ran, but Danny pulled her forward, unwilling to let go. The world was a blur of green and brown and fear as they sprinted on, until suddenly the forest ended. The teens stopped abruptly in the middle of a clearing, the ghost wolf poised above them.

"That's it!" Danny cried, shooting off a double ghost ray. The wolf was engulfed in green, evaporating into nothingness. Sam wiped sweat, blood, and hair out of her face, sighing in relief, but Danny was strangely quiet after his victory. She reached out for him, only to realize he was shaking uncontrollably.

"Danny?" she asked nervously. He tipped over in exhaustion, and Sam was barely able to catch him in time. She strained under his weight, trying to keep him on his feet.

"It's okay Danny, it's okay," she repeated over and over, trying to convince herself as much as him. Was he going to recover this time?

Danny's vision blurred before him as the earth seemed to tilt under his feet. He was barely aware of Sam supporting him as he struggled to hold onto consciousness. His eyes closed against the dizzying pain and he staggered into Sam, nearly toppling over them both.

A clap of thunder signaled a streak of lighting as it made its way across the sky. Sam was startled by the noise, looking up just as a black mass of clouds began to swirl and grow into something more. The green form of Vortex emerged, joined by the distant cackle of Nocturne's laughter.

"This is the end, Ghost Boy," Nocturne's voice echoed through Vortex, amplifying the evil sound. "This is your end."

* * *

Tucker tapped urgently at the computer Frostbite provided him, manually reprogramming the Fenton Phones to emit a frequency he hoped anyone present in Danny's subconscious would be able to hear.

"Are we sure this is really going to work?" he asked, last-minute doubts creeping out.

"_She_ must be," Frostbite warned. "We must convince her."

Tucker wiped at his perspiring forehead, wirelessly connecting the phones to a remote microphone.

"Just about done," he announced, fingers working at top speed. In the meantime, Frostbite's associates attached their own last-ditch attempt at a cure to Danny's IV drip.

"There's a very small chance this will work sir," one reported, "but it can't hurt to try." Tucker's hands flew over the keyboard, all too aware that his cure was just as unlikely to work.

"What are you going to say to her?" Jazz asked as he pressed the final key.

"Me?" Tucker balked. "No way man, you're the one talking into this thing," he said, shoving the microphone at her.

She gulped, glancing at her brother as he lay helpless before her. "What do I say?" she asked Frostbite quietly.

"Convince her she has the power to fix him, and she will," Frostbite replied calmly, putting a clawed hand on her shoulder. "It's time."

* * *

Rain pelted onto Danny and Sam, pounding their backs and faces and hands as they tried in vain to cover themselves. A flash of lightning struck the ground next to them, tumbling them over. Danny collapsed, barely able to move.

"It's over now!" Vortex-Nocturne cried, shooting more blasts of lighting at the duo. Sam cried out in fear, throwing herself over Danny in a futile effort to protect him. He lay unaware in the mud, unmoving as he was battered by the rain.

"Danny," Sam placed her hand on his face. "Please," she cried, shaking him, "please wake up. Please, I need you." His eyes slowly opened, and she gasped in relief. "You can do this," she insisted, helping him sit up. "You can beat this, I know you can. You've never let anything beat you before." He nodded, closing his eyes in concentration, managing to climb shakily to his feet.

"Nocturne!" he called, summoning the end of his strength as he glared up at the floating monster in the sky. "You need to get out of my dream NOW."

"Or what?" Vortex-Nocturne taunted, booming as thunder shook the ground. Sam nearly lost her balance, but Danny was steady. His features settled into a look of resolute determination as his feet slowly left the ground. He floated upwards, eyes glowing as fiercely green as the orbs in his hands.

"Or THIS," he roared, firing an enormous blast at the villain. Vortex-Nocturne's eyes widened in shock as the blast overtook him.

Sam cheered as the rain and lightning finally ceased. She watched smiling as Danny gradually descended from the sky - but her smile faded as he collapsed against her once his feet finally touched the ground. She wrapped her arms around him, wishing she could give him her strength.

"It's okay," she whispered. "You did it!" He lifted himself up with great effort, looking into her violet eyes.

"I don't think so!" Vortex-Nocturne growled as a forceful wind blew out of nowhere, flinging them backwards. "It'll take more than that, _hero_!" he mocked, spinning the wind into a cyclone around them.

Sam and Danny staggered to their feet, holding one another for support as the wind whipped around and around them, threatening to tear them apart. The fear in Sam's expression brought back some of Danny's strength. He drew her in close to his body, shielding her from the shrieking force of the gale. Freezing their feet to the ground, he ensured she would not be ripped from his arms. She would be safe. He let his head fall to her shoulder, exhausted, barely enough energy left to hold her.

Sam realized something was drastically wrong with the ghost boy as the wind tore and snatched at them. He was holding her with a vice grip, yet it seemed like he was somehow collapsing. With her feet firmly planted to the ground and arms stuck to her side, she could do nothing to help. Suddenly, she noticed a voice calling to her over the roar of the wind, distant yet familiar.

"Sam!" It was Jazz, she realized. "Sam, if you can hear me, please listen. Frostbite found proof, you can save Danny! He was right about before, Sam. YOU are the antidote! Just try, please, you can save him!" Behind her voice came the distinct sound of a wailing machine. It sounded like those hospital TV shows, when someone died.

Sam's eyes widened in shock as everything clicked into place. The way Danny started getting better when she held his hand. The way her being in danger brought his strength back. Frostbite was right, and if that was true...

"Danny!" she shrieked, struggling to free her arms from his locked embrace. His face was buried in her shoulder; she couldn't reach him, she had to reach him. All the while the high-pitched beeping rang in the distance, driving her to hysteria.

"DANNY!" she repeated, wrenching her arms free and taking his face in her hands. His eyes blinked open, and then closed as he fought to keep his head up.

"Sammy," he whispered, finally letting go.

"No," Sam cried defiantly, "I won't let you die!" She brought his face to hers, kissing him with a forceful intensity that demanded him to live. The kiss was ardent and earnest, full of all the blazing need Sam felt in that moment. She needed him. She needed him in her life and she wasn't giving up without a fight.

Danny opened his eyes, slowly regaining his strength. He became aware of the wind whipping around him, and Sam's lips pressed against his. He pulled back, startled, and they broke apart. But the fierceness in her eyes and her hands on his face reminded him this was the girl he wanted to fight every battle with. This was the girl he could face any nightmare with.

He leaned in, wrapping his arms around her and bringing her as close as possible as he recaptured her lips. She sighed, snaking her arm around his neck and running her free hand through his hair. If she could have spared a moment to look, she would have realized it had turned jet black.

The world spun around them as they stood locked together, oblivious to all else. They could have floated away with the wind like that, their hearts were so light. Gradually, the dreamscape began to fade to white, dissolving Nocturne and Vortex and all else. Neither Danny nor Sam noticed, however. As far as they were concerned, this was one dream that never needed to end.

* * *

Jazz and Tucker waited with baited breath as Danny crashed, the vitals monitor wailing. Frostbite and his partners exchanged looks of grim defeat, hanging their heads. Jazz muffled a sob, overcome with grief.

And then, just as all hope was lost, the monitor beeped, signaling the return of vital signals. Tucker stared in relieved awe as Danny's stats began to climb, rapidly approaching normal. They all began to cheer, elated, and Jazz's sobbing turned to shocked laughter. Danny was going to live.

Suddenly, a very disheveled Sam was hurled into the room, coming to a crash against the wall.

"Ugh," she moaned, rubbing her head. "What happened?" She looked around at Jazz, Tucker, Frostbite and the rest in confusion. "Did it work?"

Danny's black hair was all the answer she needed, but watching him stir for the first time in days, opening his piercing blue eyes, was an added bonus. He looked around, dazed, not quite able to sit up. Jazz took his hand and squeezed it.

"Don't you ever scare me like that again, baby brother!" she scolded him.

"I'll really try," he replied seriously. Everyone laughed. "What happened? I can't...remember..." He put a hand to his forehead, closing his eyes and straining in concentration. Sam wilted; would he not remember the best kiss of her life?

"We tried several cures at once," Frostbite explained smoothly, covering the awkward glances exchanged between Sam, Tucker and Jazz. "It appears one of them was successful."

"Thank you so much," Danny said to the group at large. "I owe all of you my life." He was appreciating all of them, but looked pointedly at Sam. Her heart lifted.

"There is no need," Frostbite shook his head, "the life debt has already been paid. You are always welcome here in times of need."

"Thank you," Danny repeated softly. Frostbite smiled.

"Now, you need to rest. I recommend remaining in your human form for at least a week before attempting to transform again," he instructed.

"Fat chance," Tucker, Sam, and Jazz said in unison. Danny chuckled.

"I'll do my best, but I can't make any promises," he warned.

"At _least_ three days then. And minimal use for the next week after that," Frostbite relented. "I expect you three will see to that," he said nodding to the other teens. They agreed.

"We have ghost gear Danny," Tucker reminded him. "We can always hunt ghosts the old-fashioned way. You know, with super-high-tech-ecto-plasmic weapons," he grinned.

"I suppose that'll have to do for awhile," Danny smiled.

"And after that," Frostbite inserted, looking happily between Danny and Sam, "you may never have to worry about this happening again."

* * *

Several days later, Sam sat on her window seat, staring into the night sky and reflecting on her trip into her ghost boy's dreams. Danny had stayed home sick most of the week, too exhausted to get out of bed. This was for the best, she thought – it meant he wasn't tempted to fight ghosts for once. But he'd finally started feeling better, and had made it to school that day. She suspected use of his ghost powers would soon resume.

Sam sighed. They still hadn't talked about what had happened, and she didn't even know if he remembered. She'd been tense around him all day, not knowing what to do or say to bring it up. He'd been in obliviously high spirits of course, goofing off with Tucker in the halls and even answering a few questions in class.

"I actually had time to do my homework for once," he'd explained, taking her tray out of the lunch line to carry it for her. She'd been a little taken aback at this, strangely reminded of the dream she'd had where they were together. But that was just a dream.

She sighed again, resuming her vigil staring at the sky. After a few minutes of silent watching, she spotted just what she'd been hoping to see: a certain green-eyed ghost boy, floating towards her window. She hadn't realized until that moment just how much she'd missed his nightly visits.

"Hey there," he said, phasing into her room and coming to rest on the window seat next to her. Two bright rings surrounded him as he changed back to his human self.

"You're not supposed to be using your ghost form yet, mister," she scolded softly, smiling all the same.

"I feel fine," he said, brushing off her concerns. "Besides, I wanted to come see you, and it's just a little late to use the door." She chuckled, agreeing.

"Yeah, pretty sure my mom would have a new restraining order on you in a heartbeat if she knew you were here. I guess those ghost powers _do_ come in handy every now and then," she joked airily. They both laughed for a moment, until Danny fixed her with a serious stare.

"You were really weird at school today," he commented, tilting his head the way he always did when he was reading her feelings all too well. She blushed, embarrassed that he'd noticed.

"I don't know what you mean..." she denied feebly, looking away.

"Sam," he chided, moving so she was forced to look at him. "Tucker told me what happened while I was out last weekend, you know. _Everything_ that happened." He stared at her pointedly, fueling her embarrassment.

"Oh it was just a dumb idea Frostbite came up with," she said quickly, still refusing to meet his eyes. "We were just desperate to save you."

"And you did," Danny reminded her, "I owe you my life." Sam scoffed.

"Oh no," she denied, "it was Frostbite's friends who saved you, I'm sure I had nothing to do with it."

"You had everything to do with it," he argued earnestly, taking her hand in his. She finally met his eyes, finding herself transfixed by his serious gaze.

"It doesn't matter what worked and what didn't," he continued. "You kept me fighting. You gave me a _reason_ to keep fighting. I would have given in to Nocturne and his nightmares or the pain way before Frostbite's cure was ready. I never would have made it if it wasn't for you. I'll never forget what we went through, and what you did for me." He wrapped his arms around her then, hugging her close. She returned the embrace, burying her face in his chest, so relieved he was there with her after she'd come so close to losing him.

After a few moments, they reluctantly let go, putting space back between them with a mutual blush. The memory of their kiss was still on the forefront of both their thoughts, and neither knew quite how to handle it.

"So..." Sam started after a few awkward moments of silence, "what does all this mean...for us?" She was surprised she'd managed the courage to ask. He coughed, embarrassed, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Well, what do you want it to mean?" he deflected the question back to her. Even after everything they'd been through, he was still too shy to say what he really felt.

For her part, Sam still wasn't completely sure what she thought. In front of her sat everything she'd ever wanted, but she knew how romance could ruin a friendship. She was too afraid of losing him to take the chance just yet.

"I guess we don't have to figure it out tonight," she suggested finally.

"Yeah," he agreed, even though he knew exactly what he wanted them to be. He hoped it wouldn't take another near-death experience for him to get the guts to finally admit it. In the meantime, it was enough that she was there. He knew they'd figure it out.

"Hey, what were you doing, before I got here?" he asked suddenly, remembering how she'd been just sitting, staring at the sky when he arrived.

"I was watching for you," she explained simply.

"You...you do that?" he asked, blushing.

"Of course," she said, taking his hand in hers and smiling. "Every night."

* * *

**Author's Note:**

I hope you all enjoyed the ending! I'm operating in the universe where PP happens not long after this, so they can't get officially together just yet. But they're almost there!

I really loved sharing this little story with you guys. It's made my day every time I get one of your wonderful reviews, and I can't thank you all enough for your kind thoughts. I'd really appreciate it if you let me know how you liked this ending - it means a lot to me! Thanks again for reading and sharing this ride with me. Until next time!


End file.
